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This episode commenced with a isolated photograph, possibly the most impactful ever snapped of a royal family member.

Present was the Baron Killyleagh, with his arm around a young woman, while another individual smiled suggestively in the rear.

Without that photograph, taken at a gathering in 2001, few would have credited the assertions of a adolescent who said she was trafficked across the Atlantic and compelled to have cursory relations with a member of the royal bloodline?

A curious, indicative move by someone who had openly asserted to have not heard of her, claimed he could not have had intimate contact with her, and yet provided a substantial sum of his mother's funds to resolve a protracted court action.

Years of Scandal

Considering this, conversations of the royals acting decisively to sever ties with Andrew are misguided. This scandal has persisted for the largest portion of 15 years since that photograph, and a further photo of Andrew strolling amiably with a disgraced financier came to light.

• Hubris: For what duration did his siblings, possibly even his parents, understand that Andrew was so arrogant?
• Problematic Connections: They must have known, if his staff and the police were doing their jobs, that he had some highly questionable associates given he openly invited them to palaces.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility: If the monarchy did not know about his sexual proclivities, they certainly knew about his overspending with taxpayer funds.

Journeys were printed in royal annual reports: private aircraft transfers from the palace to a sporting venue and back again in time for dining, chartered planes instead of regular transport, all for the comfort of "Airmiles Andy".

A Life of Privilege

Furthermore the arrogance which expected subservience when he entered a room or the extreme obsession about his honorifics used on his correspondence in communication to his friends.

He managed to escape consequences while his parent, who inexplicably indulged him, was still living. The monarch did at least remove him of public duties and honorary colonelcies in the wake of his catastrophic and, as revealed, mendacious television interview six years ago.

Recent Developments

Just in the last fortnight that events progressed rapidly, following the issuance of biographical works giving more grim particulars of his conduct and that of his connections.

Additional revelations have again revealed Andrew's thinking that he could avoid being untruthful about his contact with a convicted criminal.

People (and the journalists) were far in advance of the royals. There was nobody of any importance to defend him, a consequence of all those years of arrogance.

Institutional Fears

The wiser monarchical figures realized that. The primary concern is to transfer the monarchy, if not as previously at least complete and untarnished.

Over time the last 190 years trying to overcome the image of previous monarchs, showing they are beneficial, dutiful and reactive to their people.

Andrew was putting all that in jeopardy in an era when submission and discretion is no longer adequate.

Consequences

Ultimately, the well-known indecisive king was pressured further. There was no alternative. The royal household had relinquished authority of the story.

Presently the stripping of honorifics and the persistent and lifetime public humiliation that will afflict Andrew the most.

• Downgrading: Demoted to just a private citizen
• Past Example: The primary royal to lose his designations in recent history
• Naval Career: Notably painful given his duty in the conflict

He continues to be a royal advisor, theoretically able to stand in for the king, and he is still in the lineage to the throne, but neither of these will ever happen.

Coming Developments

Do individuals he encounters still show respect to him? Could they still forget themselves and call him Sir? Would they say Sir,

Certainly, he is not retiring to a common area, but to the royal family's vast estate at a monarchical property.

At that location, he will be supplied by the monarch with one of the estate properties and given some form of private allowance.

This differs from his former home, where he paid a minimal lease for more than 20 years, and the area is a bit remote, but even so it may not be far enough.

Outstanding Concerns

The situation continues. There are still files in the custody of American legislators to be made public.

• Governmental Scrutiny: Could lawmakers seek further action
• Financial Investigation: Or examine the waste of public money
• Judicial Potential: There may even be a criminal probe into his actions

Possibly for the time being the reputational impact to the crown is limited. The message from the institution was evidently that the stripping of designations was what the monarch, and notably other senior family members, wanted.

Altered Approach

An end to deception that Andrew was making the choice himself. And, significantly, the concise communication showed evidently that the institution were aligning with the accuser's account of events.

Furthermore, for the first time they finally showed consideration for the affected individuals: "The censures are judged required, notwithstanding the fact that he maintains his innocence of the claims against him."

In the end it is entitlement, self-interest and laziness that will undermine the crown. In his stupidity, self-indulgence and corruption, Andrew seems never to have grasped that truth.